Pilot director



Ami 28, @36j s, M, BURKA PILOT DIRECTOR Filed Nov. 15, 1934 INI/ENTOR BUR/q Patented Apr. 28, 1936 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 6 Claims.

(Granted under the act of March 13, y1883, as

amended April 30,

yThe invention described herein maybe manufactured .and used by or furthe Government for `governmental purposes, withoutthepayment to me of any -royalty thereon.

Itis an object of my invention to supply a device .of extreme simplicity whereby the course ofan aircraft may be readily .directed by a navigator remotely located fromzthe pilot flying said aircraft.

With thegforegoing andother objects in View, .which Willappear as the descriptionproceeds, the

invention consists of certain new and novel im# of Fig. 2.

Fig. 4 ishows `anenlarged .Viewof the Window oiFg. 1. l

gFig. .p5 .shows a similar view, `with readings altered.

The indicatingportion of my device in enclosed in a housing I, provided with a Small observation opening in the form of awindow 2. IThrough the lower half of the window 2 is observed a limited portionof a cylindrical card 3. Graduations 4, of varying depths, extend downwardlyV from the upper edge of the card 3. Vertically staggered numerals 5 are placedimmediately Vbeneath the graduations 4. I haveY arbitrarily made the width of the windowZ such that at least Vseven of a card total of 'I2 equalgraduations of arc are exposed to view at any one time. VSince each graduation represents ve degrees of arc,I haveprovided for 360-azirnuth correction by means of twelve recuring sets or groups of six graduations and sixgures each, the figures being correspondingly arranged in each group. Through-the upper half of the window 2 is observeda limited portion Vof a second cylindrical card l6. To avoid confusion, the aforesaid card A is latertermed ,a .reference card. A single graduation 'I extends upwardly from the lower yedge of the card 6. As viewed in Fig.11the graduation 'I hasbeen positioned midway between the .left and righthandsides of the window y2. The card 6 ispr.ovide d.with=,twelve suchgraduations .1, '.each l0in-which mark oir- 30'pf4 arc. YIt.

therefore, may be properly assumed that the eleven vrecurring sets or groups of graduations stamped upon the card 3, which in Fig. 1 are hidden from view by the housing I, have immediately opposite their numeral 3 eleven similarly hidden graduations 1 stamped upon the card AIi.

I have arbitrarily made thewindow 2fv such that, .with the single exception of a small angular adjustment of the card, only one graduation `1 will appear at any one time. Inthe abovereferred to exception, before the disappearance of onegraduation 'I behind a right or a 'left hand sideof the `window 2 there `appears `a previously (hidden graduation 'l at a -correspondingly opposite left or right hand side of the window 2.

In Fig. 2, the housing I isprovided withacover, 8 (shown atthebottom of thegure) Yand an internal boss 9. 'Ihe boss 9 istapped with conventionalfpipe thread. Anexternal projectionat the rear of the housing .I .is provided `with threads for receiving anut Il) of va exible drive cable II. The uppermost portionof the .drive cable I I is secured to a control unity I2 by means of a nut I3. The control unit I-2 consists of ,-a housing I4, hand ,knob I5, gear I6 l.andfworm .11.

In Fig. 3, I havevselected asl a mountingbase for the card 3 of Fig. 1 a directional gyroscope I 8. Obviously I might equally well have selected'the card supporting element of a magnetic compass or other device which maintains a xed directionin azimuth. The card 3 is secured to the gyroscope IB by means of arms I 9. A hollow boss is provided at its lower extremity with a screen 2|, and at its upper extremity with a suitable shoulder for receiving a ball bearing 22, held in place by a threaded collar 23. The bearing 2,2 secures the lowerportion of the gyroscope I8 to the housing I, while vthe upper portion thereof is pivoted about theV bearing pin 24. The gyroscope I8 isenergized yby air evacuation from the housing I,through the v, outlet provided by the boss .9. Thosefskilled in the art are wellversed in the part arrangement and koperation yof directional gyroscopes.

The `essence of my invention is contained inthe reference card 6. Briefly stated-this card represents a, plurality of laterally adjustable lubber lines, only one of Which is Ygenerally visible through v the window `2, Vas stated above. The reference card 6 is fixed to a gear 25 bymeans oi rivets 26. Thegear is in `turn journalled toa boss 2K1 provided at the upper extremity of the housing I. A worm 28,is journalled in bosses 29 and 30 provided in the under ,top usurface `of theghousing I. Through higl'iandlowpitchse- 55 lection, with reference to gears l1 and 25, a considerable number of turns of the knob I is made to effect less than one turn of the reference card E. A check nut 3| is used to lock the bearing pin 24 against rotation with respect to the housing I.

The operation of my device'is as follows. Let it be assumed that a pilot has sighted a bombing objective and has brought the nose of his aircraft to bear thereupon. Unless he is fortunate enough to be directly upwind or downwind of the aforesaid object, his aircraft will drift to right or left of a straight line drawn through the intersection of his perpendicular with the ground at any given moment and from thence to the approximate center of the object he seeks to destroy. Having assumed the aforesaid heading, the pilot thereupon glances through the window 2 and observes the card arrangement of Fig. 4. I-Ie makes mental note that the graduation 'I of the reference card 6 is approximately ymidway between the numerals 2 and 3 of the graduations 4 stamped upon the card 3. As long as the navigator, in this instance the bomber, permits the reference card 6 to remain stationary with respect to the housing I and the pilot so directs his aircraft that the numerals 2 and 3 remain positioned as shown in Fig. 4, the pilot is holding his aircrafts heading at zero azimuth deviation. 1f the pilot continues to maintain the aforesaid heading he will discover, in a short period of time, that the nose of his aircraft is slowly drifting to right or left of his bombing objective. It is with correction of the aforementioned drifting that the following is concerned.

Simultaneously with the bringing, by the pilot, of the nose of an aircraft into preliminary alignment with an object to be bombed, the bomber assumes control of the aircrafts course. Through employment of well known sighting means, he determines the course to be followed. He retains the pilot upon the same through continuous manipulation of the knob l5. One of the typical series of corrections incident to the above may be observed by reference to Fig. 5, in which the bomber has moved the graduation l' of the reference card 6 to the right of the position shown in Fig. 4. The pilot merely follows movement of the reference card 6 by identical and coinciding movement of the card 3, through use of the rudder controls of his aircraft. It should be noted that the above heading correction is entirely devoid of involved mental process. The pilot has only to maintain the card graduations in matched relationship. As has been previously stated, the interrelationships of the eleven hidden graduated sets and eleven hidden graduations 1 coincident therewith are identical to the matched relationship of the twelfth exposed set and graduation 1. As each exposed set and graduation 1 disappear behind the right or left hand side of the window 2, the pilots eye automatically picks up an oncoming set and graduation 1 from the opposite left or right hand side of the window 2. The bomber may, if necessity arises, accomplish a 360 correction from any original heading selected bythe pilot. This broad range of correction finds particular application to large transport aircraft of all types.

I claim:

l. In a pilot director for aircraft, the combination with a device adapted to maintain a fixed direction in azimuth, of a housing for mounting said azimuth maintaining device, a card fixed to said-.device having a plurality of equally spaced graduations each provided with an identifying character such that the whole forms a series of groups of correspondingly arranged characters, a reference card rotatably secured to said housing coaxial with but not touching said azimuth card and having equally spaced graduations identical in number to said recurring group of characters, and means for rotatably adjusting said reference card with respect to said housing, there being a window in said housing of suflicient size for viewing predetermined portions of said reference and azimuth cards.

2. In a pilot director for aircraft, the combination with a device adapted to maintain a fixed vdirection in azimuth, of a housing for mounting said azimuth maintaining device, a cylindrical card fixed to said azimuth device having vertically extending,.equally spaced graduations identified by a plurality of groups of correspondingly .arranged characters at the respective bases thereof, a reference card rotatably secured to said housing coaxial with but not touching said azimuth device card and having vertically extending, equally spaced graduations each adapted to align with any of the graduations on said cylindrical card, and meansfor rotatably adjusting said reference card with respect to said housing, there being a window in said housing of sufficient size to clearly view that arc of reference and azimuth cards required to depict at least onefgroup and one graduation thereoverlof 'said recurring groups of characters.

3. A pilot director for aircraft comprising, in combination, a device having a series of groups of correspondingly arranged direction indicia, a housing for mounting said device, a reference card rotatably secured to said housing coaxial with and freely movable independent of said device and having a plurality of equally spaced lubber lines thereon equal in number to said groups, and means for rotatably adjusting said reference card with respect to said housing, there being a window in said housing of sufficient size to expose a predetermined number only of said lubber lines and direction indicia.

4. A pilot director for aircraft comprising, in

combination, a directional gyroscope, a housing for mounting said gyroscope, a card fixed to the vertical ring of said gyroscope having a plurality of groups of correspondingly arranged graduations thereon, a reference card rotatably secured to said housing coaxial with and freely movable independent of said first card and having aplurality of equally spaced lubber lines thereon equal in number to said graduation groups, and means for rotatably adjusting said reference card with respect to said housing, there being a window in said housing of sufcient size for viewing predetermined numbers of groups and lubber lines of said first and said reference cards.

5. A pilot director for aircraft comprising, in combination, a directional gyroscope, a housing for mounting said gyroscope, a card fixed to the vertical ring of said gyroscope having a plurality of equally spaced graduations each provided with a numeral such that the whole v:forms a series of groups of correspondingly arranged numerals, a reference card rotatably secured to said housing coaxial with and freely movable independent of said first card andA having equally spaced graduations identical in number to said recurring groups of characters, and means for rotatably adjusting said reference card with respect to said housing, there being a window in saidhousing of sufficient size to-clearly view that arc-of `said rst and reference cards required to expose at least one group and one graduation thereover of said recurring groups o f graduations.

6. A pilot .director for aircraft comprising, in`

combinationz a directional gyroscope, a housing for mounting said gyroscope, a cylindrical card xed to the vertical ring of said gyroscope having vertically extending equally spaced graduations provided with a series of groups of correspondingly arranged numerals at the respective bases thereof, a reference card rotatably secured to said housing coaxial lwith pandfreely movableyindependentofsaid cylindrical card and having vertically extending equally spaced graduations each adapted to align with any of the graduations on said cylindrical card, and means for rotatably adjusting said reference card with respect to said housing, there being a window in said housing of sufficient size to clearly view that arc of cylindrical and reference cards required to expose at least one group and one graduation thereover of 'said recurring groups of graduations.

SAMUEL M. BURKA. 

